LDS Objections: Genetic Drift

Could
genetic drift over 2,600 years account for the loss of
Jewish haplotypes in Native Americans?

700
year old remains show that Native American Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA haplotypes
have not changed significantly

The
African Lemba tribe claims to have Jewish roots

More
than 50% of Lemba One of the two sex chromosomes that determines maleness in mammals, carried and passed down from males to males.Y Chromosomes carry haplotypes that are
common among Jewish populations but absent in their African
neighbors

Could genetic drift explain the lack of Jewish genetic markers in Native
Americans? A study of Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA from 108 individuals from 700 year old burial site
confirmed the founding populations originated 23,000-37,000 yearsago.1 The same kinds of haplotypes were found
in the ancient remains as those seen today, indicating that not much
genetic drift had occurred over the last 700 years.

The kinds of studies that have been done on Native Americans have also
been done on some Africans, specifically the Lemba tribe from South Africa, who claimed to have Jewish roots.
What is remarkable is that the time frame is almost exactly the same as
that claimed by the Book of Mormon. Here is an excerpt from the
prestigious journal Science:

Genetic evidence also supports the oral tradition that the
Lemba, who
are now Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa, derive from Jews who
migrated from the Middle East to Yemen 2700 years ago and from Yemen
to southern Africa 2400 to 2000 years ago. More than 50% of
Lemba One of the two sex chromosomes that determines maleness in mammals, carried and passed down from males to males.Y Chromosomes carry haplotypes that are common among Jewish
populations but absent in their African neighbors (17). Genetic analysis
has also confirmed the distinctiveness of the Cohanim, or traditional
Jewish priesthood.2

Although the Lemba physically look like their black neighbors, their
genetics clearly indicate that they are one of the “lost” tribes
of Israel. The idea that all the Jewish Functional and physical units of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.genes could be lost through
genetic drift in a population of Native Americans in only 2,700 years is
absurd.

References

C Stone and M Stoneking. 1998. Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA Analysis of a
Prehistoric Oneota Population: Implications for the Peopling of the New World.
Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62:1153-1170.